“Tell Saima I’m sure things will work out. I’ll see you atiftar, Maryam Aziz,” he said, turning for the stairs.
Ghulam caught her eye, motioning for her to join him in the alcove where the extra firewood was stored. Her mother was there, too, and as Maryam approached, she noted the worried looks on her parents’ faces.
“I’ll find Saima and try to calm her down,” Maryam reassured them, but Azizah only took her arm while her father shifted on his feet, looking uncomfortable.
“We noticed you speaking with Saif last night and again today,” her mother started, and Maryam immediately wanted to sink into the floor.
“I really should get back to my room,” she said, edging away. “Saima is really upset.”
Except it was her father who seemed upset right now. “Beta, I know that Saif is a good-looking man—”
Oh God, please make him stop, Maryam thought, desperate for some divine intervention.
“—but we have heard a few things about him,” Ghulam continued.
“From his ownmother,” Azizah said. “He doesn’t visit very often, even though they are aging. And Shukriya told me herself that he has agirlfriend,” she said, whispering now. Her words hit Maryam like a blow, and she took a step back, staring at the stairs across the room, where Saif had only moments ago disappeared. He had a girlfriend? Not that he had been flirting with her, of course. Any attention he might have been paying her had been all in her head.
“Be careful,beta,” her father said. “We don’t want you to get hurt again.”
Maryam nodded her head. “You don’t have to worry about me,” she told her parents. “I should get back to the room. I’m pretty tired.”
—
Maryam woke at noon, groggy and blinking against the gloom of the blackout curtains. She hadn’t paid a lot of attention to her surroundings, other than to note the shabby-chic vibe of Snow Falls Inn that she suspected was not intentional.She was sharing a queen bed with her sister. A pretty antique-veneer bureau had a wood-paneled twenty-four-inch tube television perched on top, where she had watched the Weather Network foretell doom last night. An elegant Queen Anne chair was positioned in front of the windows, upholstered in gray damask stripes, but the floor was covered in hideous red-and-brown carpeting.
The en suite bathroom was currently occupied, and Maryam was relieved to have a few minutes alone. They had been up late, repeatedly testing the phones to see if they worked before falling into an exhausted sleep. It seemed like they were stuck in Snow Falls for at least another day. A dull headache now started behind her eyes.
Maryam lay back and contemplated the plaster ceiling of the room, a swirling design in an infinite pattern, with no beginning and no end. Her life had started to feel like that, lately—a never-ending whirl of problem-solving and disasters. She was tired of fighting fires.
Saima emerged from the bathroom, clad only in her knee-length nightshirt, curly hair loose around her shoulders. Silently, she started to dress. “I’m going to the lobby to see if the phones are working yet, and try to call Miraj,” she said stiffly. “I’m pretty sure we’ve lost the deposit for themehndihall.” Themehndi, which had been scheduled for tomorrow, was meant to kick off the wedding festivities with a ladies-only dance party. Maryam had been looking forward to themehndithe most; she had even secretly prepared a choreographed dance for the occasion.
Maryam waited until Saima left the room before getting out of bed and taking a quick shower in the tiny en suite. Shehad finished tying her navy blue hijab when there was a knock at the door. Saima must have forgotten her key card.
Opening the door, she was surprised to see Saif on the other side.
“What do you—” she started, but he muttered a hurried “Sorry” before diving into the closet behind her and shutting the door.
“What the hell?” Maryam said out loud.
“Hey, Maryam, have you seen Saif?” Farah, her family friend, called out, rounding the corner. She had been running and was out of breath.
Maryam resisted the urge to look at the closet behind her. “Who?” she asked, trying to buy time.
“Saif. Remember him? He was walking down the hallway in this direction.” Farah lowered her voice. “Our parents are trying to set us up. They don’t care about the rumors. I thought since we’re all stuck together in this weird inn, we might as well have the conversation, you know?”
Inwardly, Maryam wanted to scream. Of course, this was why Farah had joined the wedding party. It was practically an expectation that adesiwedding should beget more weddings. She wondered if Farah knew that Saif had a girlfriend in California. Or that he was a disappointment to his family.
But of course Farah knew. She was intelligent, and had an engaging, friendly presence that likely resonated with her middle school physics students. Maryam bet she was great at designing hands-on experiments involving light or speed or...
“Prisms,” Maryam blurted.
Farah gave her a strange look. “No,” she said patiently. “Saif. Have you seen him?”
Maryam crossed her arms and tried desperately not to think closet-y thoughts. Her hand crept to her mouth. “Mmm. Saif. Yes. Saif Rasool.”
Farah leaned forward eagerly. “That’s his name. He turned the corner just here. Listen, I saw the two of you flirting this morning, so I hope you won’t take this the wrong way, but I really need to speak with him.”
“Flirting!” Maryam exclaimed, flustered now. “We weren’t flirting. I was just asking if he had a plane. Or, you know, a helicopter I could borrow.”
